Parenting

When was the last time you were somewhere or with someone and really embraced being there? I was lucky enough to be on Chesterman’s Beach near Tofino this summer. The sound, feel, smell and sight of the surf, sand, sun and milieu of people swimming, surfing, biking, sand sailing, and kite flying was truly [...]

They say that it takes a village to raise a child “and I found my Village within this program” said a young Motherhood Matters participant. She is certainly not alone in her thinking. Motherhood Matters touched the lives of hundreds of women in its more than 40 years. Motherhood Matters was a three stage [...]

Catholic Family Service released the findings of a three year study titled: Fathers Moving Forward June 2019 at a private event in downtown Calgary. Fathers Moving Forward is a program for fathers aged 16 to 26 provided by Catholic Family Service at the Louise Dean Centre for pregnant and parenting teens. Developed and piloted in [...]

Thomas Rayment2019-07-02T20:00:33+00:00June 28th, 2019|News, Parenting|Comments Off on Three year study leads to Fathers Moving Forward – a reflection on how we got here.

By Shannon Kanda, Engagement and Intake Coordinator, Counselling Services, Catholic Family Service The tenth anniversary of my dad’s death was a few months ago. The weight of that occasion was unexpected and there were some uncomfortable and awkward feelings that went with figuring out what I wanted to do with it. Wonderfully, one of the [...]

By Yun Yun Lee, Dietitian, Healthy Babies Network, Louise Dean Centre You may ask what nutrition has to do with #BuildingStrongFamilies. Is there a magic ingredient, maybe a superfood that miraculously brings everyone together? I wish. As a dietitian, I speak to many clients about food choices to improve their health, weight, pregnancy outcomes, and [...]

Katherine Matiko2018-03-29T16:45:16+00:00March 29th, 2018|Parenting|Comments Off on How to Build Strong Families by Eating Together

By Shane Lynch, Coordinator, Fathers Moving Forward Program, Catholic Family Service For many years, it has been the belief of parenting educators that time-outs are key to teaching children to behave appropriately. Many of us may even have firsthand experience of this discipline technique. For some it was, “That’s enough. Go sit in the corner.” [...]

By Jessica Williams, Managing Director, Stakeholder Relations, Catholic Family Service and Unlocking Potential Foundation Parent empowerment is something we talk a lot about at Catholic Family Service. It’s a practice, a way of being, that runs through our programs and aims to reinforce, at every opportunity, that the parents we serve are the most important [...]

By Kevin To, Participant, Families and Schools Together, Catholic Family Service In order for you to understand the depth of my appreciation for the Families and Schools Together (F&ST) program, you need to know a little bit about who I am and where I come from. I was born to immigrant parents who arrived in [...]

Thank you to Elisa Revoy for sharing her story with us after participating in the 2016 Santa Sleigh Project at Louise Dean Centre. I got pregnant at 16. A few months after my seventeenth birthday, I had a little boy named Dominick. Being so young and having a tiny baby to care for was terrifying. [...]

Katherine Matiko2017-05-27T05:24:03+00:00December 19th, 2016|Parenting|Comments Off on Former Teen Mom Gives Back at Christmas

By Jessica Williams, Managing Director, Stakeholder Relations, Catholic Family Service and Unlocking Potential Foundation The teenaged parents of six newborn or soon-to-be-born babies were honoured recently for completing a 12-week co-parenting group offered by Catholic Family Service’s Fathers Moving Forward program. While the parents marked this milestone by sharing a meal with staff, donors and [...]

ABOUT CFS

We are committed to building strong families. Our programs and services respond to the challenges that threaten families and leave them vulnerable. We focus on enhancing the mental health and well-being of our clients, empowering parents, nurturing children’s healthy development and enabling success in school.